


Unless I Do it Soon... (Warm Mugs)

by sunnywithclouds



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Frenemies, Good Severus Snape, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Malfoy Manor, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Re-Telling, Room of Requirement, Slow Burn, not canon, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-11-27 18:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20952656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnywithclouds/pseuds/sunnywithclouds
Summary: When Harry finally corners Draco in the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle, he expects to demand answers to his questions.  But when he finds Draco in tears and absolute despair, all he can think of is getting him somewhere safe to find out what the hell is going on...Re-telling in AU what happens when Harry finds Draco in the bathroom in book six.  It wasn't supposed to be a chaptered fic but as I was writing it I realized there was no way to say everything in one part.  So we'll see where it takes us!---------Along with Inktober, it is Fictober! Following a prompt list from Tumblr I'm going to write short fics based around those prompts. A friend doing the same is titling each fic with the prompt so I'm totally copying that. ;)--------





	1. Warm Mugs

"DON'T!" Harry shouted, twisting to the side with just enough time to get out of the way of Draco's hex. He felt the prickling rush of air against his face as it passed, then he leapt forward to tackle the other boy.

He hadn't expected to find him crying. Harry wasn't sure what he had expected when he had tracked him to the bathroom, but this wasn't it. And anything he'd planned to say or do, everything he'd been thinking about for months and weeks of tracking him and trying to figure out what he was up to was gone.

_"...and unless I do it soon.. he says he'll kill me.."_

Those words rocketed around Harry's head as he wrestled Draco to the floor of the bathroom, scuffling with him to grab his wand, shoving it into his back pocket as he forced a hand over the other boy's mouth. "STOP.. Stop.." Harry hissed the first but said the second more quietly as Draco struggled on the ground under him. He saw the fear in his still tear filled grey eyes and he shook his head. "M'not going to hurt you or do anything to you. Swear."

Draco's eyes flooded again. Then closed as Harry spoke and choking sobs shook his body that went limp under Harry who removed his hand from Draco's mouth. 

"Malfoy... Hey, c'mon." Harry shifted up off the other boy, giving his arms a yank to get him to his feet. "We gotta get out of here." He glared over at Myrtle who looked like the cat who ate a canary, ready to start shouting at any moment and draw more people into this.

Draco nodded without saying anything, unable to say anything as Harry got him out of the bathroom. They were lucky it was dinner time, there was no one in the wide corridors as Harry half ran half pulled Draco with him towards the only place he could think of that they could go and be totally left alone.

_I need somewhere to take him. Somewhere safe._

He thought it hard, desperately and repeatedly in his own head as they moved down the corridor and like an answered prayer, a plain but sleek dark wooden door appeared in the wall that hid the Room of Requirement.

Harry didn't think twice, he pushed the door open and dragged Draco inside, slamming it behind them so it would disappear from view to the outside world.

Draco collapsed onto the floor, his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Harry didn't say anything, didn't even look around. Just kneeled down next to Draco and stayed there.

"You must be so pleased." Draco said eventually. His voice thick but still bitter and sharp as he looked over at Harry, his eyes red and swollen, tears still trickling down his cheeks. "Finally caught me, haven't you."

"I don't really care." Harry said, shaking his head. 

_"...and unless I do it soon.. he says he'll kill me.."_

The phrase circled his head again and he reached out one hand to place on Draco's shoulder. The pale boy flinched but didn't pull away. "I don't care anymore. What you've been up to. What you've done. I heard what you said."

_"...and unless I do it soon.. he says he'll kill me.."_

Neither of them knew that the phrase went through both of their heads that time, at the same time. Draco's head fell forward and he looked down. "Bullshit." He said, looking at the floor.

"No I'm serious." Harry shifted off his knees to sit on the floor with the other boy, watching him carefully. "I heard what you said." He repeated, leaning forward a bit. "Whatever you're doing, it's not because you want to, that much is bloody obvious. I don't care what you've been doing, I just want to help you out of it."

A fresh wave of tears took the other boy and Draco turned on the floor away from Harry as his shoulders shook. "No one can help. Not even you."

"You say that without even giving me a chance."

"I don't have TIME for chances!' Draco said, the words strangling in his throat, making him cough and swallow hard. "I'm out of time."

"You're still here right now. You're still alive right this second. You have time."   
Harry tried to speak gently but with conviction, sliding forward a bit on the floor to put a hand over Draco's shoulder again. The other boy jerked like he was trying to get away from Harry, but then relaxed a moment later.

"You should just kill me now. That would solve a lot of problems."

"Somehow I don't think it would." Harry squeezed the hand on Draco's shoulder, sighing softly, then shifted again to look around. "Where are we..."

The Room of Requirement had fashioned itself into a bedroom. A very large bedroom but a bed room all the same. Harry got to his feet to walk around, looking at everything. Four tall windows that looked out onto what appeared to be a perfectly manicured garden with peacocks strutting through it. A huge canopied bed in green and silver to match the drapes. Polished dark wood floors and polished dark wood furniture. A settee, a couple of wingback chairs and a small table between them with two steaming warm mugs of what looked like-

"Hot chocolate." Draco's voice came from behind Harry, who turned to look at him in question. "This is my bedroom. At home... Dobby used to bring hot chocolate to me whenever...." He trailed off and looked away.

Harry turned to look at Draco who was wiping at his cheeks, his hair mussed and clothing rumpled. "Why did the room bring us here?"

Draco shrugged, swallowing roughly. "All I was thinking was I wanted to go home."

"And I was thinking I wanted somewhere safe to bring you. Makes sense.."

Harry looked around again with a different set of eyes, taking in a small portion of Malfoy Manor, a place he had to admit he'd wondered about from time to time.

"This is actually your room? It looks so bare, maybe the Room didn't get it all right."

"No this is what it looks like." Draco said, getting to his feet and needlessly brushing off the legs of his trousers. "At least this is what it looks like to anyone but me. I wasn't allowed to decorate in a way anyone else could see." He reached for his wand but then came up empty, his brow furrowing slightly."

"Here." Harry walked the few steps to the smaller boy and held out his wand to him. "Had to take it from you, you were about to jinx my head off."

Draco nodded and didn't argue the point which actually made Harry smile. He watched as Draco flicked the wand through his fingers, then twisted it in a tight circle with a muttered incantation. As soon as he did, the walls became cluttered with posters and pictures, clothes were strewn about the room over the back of furniture and out of one opened drawer. A massive fur rug sprung up through the wooden floor and the typical Slytherin furnishings of green and silver turned to navy blue.

It was, it had to be said, kind of amazing. Proper, perfect and always impeccably outfitted Draco had a room that looked rather typical for a teenager.

"This is better." Harry said, raising both eyebrows as he looked around, turning in a slow circle. "Not what I would have expected though."

"Thought I'd have everything gold plated and diamond encrusted?" Draco asked, trying to smooth his hair back as he set his wand down on the bedside table, then moved to sit down on one of the wingback chairs, that were actually not wingbacks anymore but oversize and very comfortable looking armchairs.

"Well... Silver more than gold." Harry said, tilting his head a bit as he looked at Draco, pleased when a ghost of a smile crossed his lips. 

"Point made." Draco said, the bit of a smile fading as he sighed, leaning back in the chair and rubbing his eyes. "I feel wretched."

"You look it, no offence." Harry said, moving over to sit down in the other chair near the table, he pushed one of the warm mugs pointedly over towards Draco. "Not just because you were crying, it's been obvious things haven't been good for you this year. You always look tired and even more pale than usual."

"Thanks so much." Draco said with a bit of his usual sharpness, but he smiled slightly at the same time, picking up the mug and leaning forward over it, resting it in his hands on his knees. "I know it's true though."

"Malfoy... I gotta ask..." Harry started, then stopped again when Draco's head jerked around and the blonde boy glared at him.

"Don't ask. Just don't. I can't tell you, even you must realize that."

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

"You couldn't help me if I did tell you." 

"Maybe Dumbledore could..."

Harry trailed off again as immediately Draco's eyes filled again and he looked down and away from Harry, tears trickling down his cheeks.

"Nevermind then..." Harry said quietly, reaching to pick up the second mug, holding it cradled in his palms. "Just... We'll just sit."

And they sat silently. Sipping at hot chocolate that never went cold and the mugs never seemed to empty. Harry eventually placed his on the table next to him, sighing as he leaned back in the chair and looked around the room again. His eyes travelled slowly over the posters of the Bulgarian National, moving pictures of people Harry mostly didn't know though a few he recognized as other Slytherins. And tucked into the corner of the mirror over the long dresser was an article from the Daily Prophet. "The Chosen One?" flashed at him, interchanging with a photo of himself.

Well that was... not expected...

"I know you aren't stupid." Draco said, startling Harry who jerked his head around to look at the other boy. "I know you know who I was talking about."

Harry's brain took a few seconds to catch up, trying to make sense of what Draco was saying in reference to the Daily Prophet article before he realized he was talking about what he heard in the bathroom.

"Well... I assumed. Him or Fenrir Greyback."

Draco startled then, a faint flush coming to his incredibly pale cheeks. "How do you...."

Harry shook his head, shifting in the chair to turn towards Draco a bit. "The day we were all in Diagon Alley. I saw you on your own and followed you to Borgin and Burkes. Overheard you talking about him... Friend of the family or not, I figured it was possible he was threatening you. But it isn't him."

Draco shook his head and Harry sighed, his stomach feeling lined with ice at the realization that Draco's life was on the line with Voldemort just like his was. And Draco's threat seemed far more imminent than Harry's.

"He wants you to do something and if you don't then he'll kill you."

"And my family." Draco said quietly, letting out a long low breath. 

"So you were behind cursing Katie. And poisoning Ron."

"Neither of those were intentional." Draco said, not disputing it, just setting things right. "I never wanted to hurt Katie. Or Weasley. I'm just not good at thinking of every possible variable."

"And definitely not while under extreme amounts of pressure. No one could make good decisions with a sword hanging over their head." Harry said, feeling an unreasonable amount of happiness when Draco flashed him a grateful smile. 

"I should have guessed Slughorn wouldn't give that mead over." Draco said, sliding his mug onto the table. Then immediately stilled as Harry looked at him, realizing he'd said too much just a little bit too late. "I mean..."

"Dumbledore." Harry said hoarsely. "That mead was for Dumbledore." He leaned forward in sudden panic, not just for the threat on Dumbledore, but for the absolutely barbaric and horrific task that Voldemort had given Draco. "He wants you to..."

Draco turned his eyes away as they started to flood again. "He didn't give me any choice."

"No he wouldn't have." Harry said, trying to keep his voice gentle but even he could hear the note of panic in it. 

"I can't do it. I don't see how I could. All my ideas have failed and they all revolved around third parties. I don't know how else to.. I couldn't just walk up to him and... I can't just..." 

Draco hiccuped as tears overcame him again and Harry felt his heart well and truly ache. Even if Draco didn't have what appeared to be any sort of relationship with Dumbledore, he didn't hate him. Didn't see him as a threat. Didn't want to hurt him, it was the threat to himself and his family that was driving him. And Harry could hardly fault him for that.

He reached across from his chair, over the table to slide his hand onto Draco's arm. He didn't know what to say to the other boy and somehow reaching out to him felt natural. It had right from the start of this whole debacle. He slid his hand down to Draco's wrist, as far as he could reach without leaning himself right out over the table. Draco's arm moved and at first Harry thought he was pulling away, but then long cool fingers found his own and entwined with them, squeezing them as he clearly tried to pull himself together again.

This wasn't what Harry would have ever expected to happen. But then, not much of his life was turning out anything like he expected it to. But this? Sitting in a reproduction of Draco's bedroom, his hand held tight in a trembling grip from the other boy, talking about how Draco had to kill Dumbledore or Voldemort would kill him and his family? That was, even for him, something that he never would have expected.

"Did he give you a time limit?" Harry eventually asked quietly, his fingers tightening around Draco's almost protectively. A bones deep reflex that he didn't even know existed in him, but now surged through him possessively and powerfully.

_"...and unless I do it soon.. he says he'll kill me.."_

"By the end of the school year." Draco said quietly, holding just as tight to Harry's hand. "He's getting restless but he won't go back on it. He wants the job done more than he wants to murder me, at least right now."

"It's May.. Early May, we still have time."

Draco jerked his head around to look at Harry in shock, making the dark haired boy realize that he'd just implied something he hadn't meant to. 

"To find a way around it." He said, seeing the relief flood Draco's face. "There has to be a way around it, there has to be something we can do."

"Why do you care?" Draco asked quietly and hesitantly, like he was scared that Harry would reply that he didn't.

"Because I do. Because Voldemort doesn't just affect my life, and the fight I know I'm heading towards with him isn't just for me."

Harry could read a million questions on Draco's face but all he did was squeeze his hand. Tight. Tight enough to still the tremble in Draco's fingers. 

"We'll find a way." He said firmly, looking straight into Draco's silver grey eyes. And he meant it.


	2. Unless I Do It Soon... (Chapter 2 "Wings")

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With time passing, Harry and Draco have been meeting to talk about what should be done next. Draco wishes he could just fly away somewhere altogether and is surprised that Harry of all people knows exactly what he means. They're getting closer by leaps and bounds, but neither of them can shake the fact that time is running out.
> 
> Re-telling in AU what happens when Harry finds Draco in the bathroom in book six. It wasn't supposed to be a chaptered fic but as I was writing it I realized there was no way to say everything in one part. So we'll see where it takes us!
> 
> \-------
> 
> \--Along with Inktober, it is Fictober! Following a prompt list from Tumblr I'm going to write short fics based around those prompts. A friend doing the same is titling each fic with the prompt so I'm totally copying that. ;)
> 
> \--------

"I wish I could fly." 

Draco was at the window of his Room of Requirement bedroom, looking outside and watching the peacocks. He turned and looked over his shoulder at Harry who was seated on the floor going through one of the magazines that were strewn about the room.

"If I had wings maybe that would do... Something. I don't know."

They'd taken to going to the Room of Requirement that always presented itself as Draco's bedroom in Malfoy Manor fairly regularly. This was the fifth or sixth time they'd met there. Always with the most subtle of planning. An eye caught in class or across the Great Hall. A note stuck in a pocket in the hall when they passed, bumping shoulders and sneering at each other in a combative way.

"Wings?" Harry said, closing the magazine and looking up at Draco with a smile. "I'm not sure that would, actually, fix anything. It isn't like you can't fly already."

"I can?" Draco asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed, laughing when Harry gave him a 'come on' look at pointed at one of the Bulgarian National posters on the wall. "Oh right... I suppose that's true. If flying would solve anything I have a broom."

"And Thestrals in the woods." Harry said, picking up a sickle that was on the thick fur rug.

"Ugh.. They freak me out." Draco said with a bit of a shudder. "I liked it better when I couldn't see them."

"You can see them now?" Harry asked, getting up off the floor. He set the sickle on Draco's bedside table before sitting down on the bed next to him. "You couldn't in class last year. Or were you pretending you couldn't to make Hagrid look like a joke to Umbridge?"

Draco shook his head. "No, I couldn't see them then. I can now. I did on the way to school this year." He paused, chewing the inside of his lower lip for a few moments, looking at the floor, scrunching his socked toes into the rug. "It was a bad summer."

Harry touched the other boy's shoulder lightly just for a moment, getting that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was coming to expect when he was with Draco. Slowly over the course of their visits he'd peeled back some of the layers of Draco's life. And in turn let the other boy peel back a few of his. 

Both of them were surprised at how much of the assumptions they'd made about each other were wrong.

"I think I have to let Snape help me." Draco said, reaching to pick up the sickle that Harry had put down on the table, rolling it against his thumb and forefinger.

"Snape?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing a bit, his hackles raising. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Snape's... With Voldemort." Draco said, but he frowned slightly as he said it. "I think. He's supposed to be but..."

"What?" Harry asked a little more vehemently than he meant to. Accepting Draco as a fundamentally good person was one thing but Snape was a whole other. 

"It's just that over the summer, when he was at... Meetings in our house. And he was giving Him updates and things. He was telling him wrong information."

"Maybe he just didn't know the right information." Harry shifted on the bed, shoving his hands under his thighs so he didn't do anything stupid.

"No he knew the right information. _I_ knew the right information and if I knew it then he should have as well. It was all stuff about you or Dumbledore. " Draco turned his head to look at Harry, unable to help smiling at the black look on his face. 

"Dumbledore has always told me that Snape was with them. I never really believed it." Harry growled the words out.

"I don't know what to think. Because he's also told me that he'll do this... task... if I can't. Or help me with it. I keep telling him no and to leave me alone. I don't know if I can trust him but now I don't know if maybe I should just let him."

"YOU don't know if you can trust Snape." Harry said with a laugh, shaking his head and flopping back onto the bed on his back. "You of all people. Can't decide if you should trust Snape or not. That's rich."

"Well you don't trust him." Draco said, looking at Harry where he was lying on the bed. The pillowy duvet half swallowing him. He flopped back as well, lying next to Harry, staring up at the dark canopy above them. He took out his wand and flicked it here and there, adding small pinpoints of light to the dark surface like stars.

"Yes but I have reason to. He's never been anything but incredibly nice to you. Pampered and coddled you. He's your head of house."

"Well... I'm not so sure now, alright? I can change my mind."

"You're right." Harry said, raising himself up on his elbows to look down at the blonde. "Sorry, you're right, you can change your mind if you want to."

Draco smiled and nodded slightly, resting his wand against his chest, keeping his eyes on the stars above him. He was still getting used to this new Harry. The one that listened to him and gave him the same consideration he gave his actual friends. The one that sat with him and let him cry and scream or sit in silence for hours and never questioned it. "What do you think I should do?"

Harry stayed quiet for a long time, then let out a low breath and shifted to turn onto his side, propping his head on his hand so he could see Draco. "What has Snape said exactly?"

Draco hesitated for a moment, warring the old instinct to keep everything to himself. But he knew that in the grand scheme of things it no longer mattered. He was likely dead one way or another at this point. 

"He's told me that he'll do it for me. That I don't have to do it. Or at least not do it all by myself. He made an Unbreakable Vow to my mother. That if I couldn't or failed to do this task, he would do it for me."

What's an Unbreakable Vow?" Harry asked curiously, half of him thinking Snape was out for glory with Voldemort, wanting to prove himself capable of anything for his Dark Lord. And half of him thinking that he really did want to help Draco and that somehow his intentions were honourable.

"It's a promise you make to someone else. If you break the promise, you die."

Harry's eyebrows raised and Draco smiled at him, honestly kind of enjoying the surprise. "Strange he'd go that far, isn't it?"

"It is.." Harry agreed, nodding a couple of times. "Have you heard Snape out when he's talked to you about it?"

"No. I haven't wanted to involve him. Last year... Before I heard him feeding false information to Him, I likely would have had him help from the start and already be done. But I don't... I just don't think he's really with Him. Not anymore, if ever..."

Draco shifted a bit, turning his head so he could see Harry better. "I feel like there's something more going on with this than I know about."

Harry nodded again, slowly as he thought. Draco could almost see the tick and whirr of his brain behind his eyes, hoping that it would land on something he hand't thought of.

"I think you need to talk to Snape." Harry said eventually, absently reaching out to push a stray lock of Draco's hair up out of his eyes. "I mean really talk to him. Bluntly. Ask him why he fed false information to Voldemort. Ask him why he made an Unbreakable Vow to help you. Tell him you feel like there's more going on than you know. The more information you can get the better."

"To what end, though?" Draco asked, sitting up after the touch and slide of Harry's fingers had made him shiver in a way that had nothing to do with cold. "What am I looking for from him exactly?"

"Nothing right now. Just more information than you have. Right now you have a bunch of questions and suspicions but no means to answer them. And if you get them answered you may have a better idea of what to do next."

Draco thought, once against chewing the inside of his lower lip. "I guess I don't really have anything to lose." He said eventually, smiling slightly. "It's not like anything I do right now really matters. I could stop going to classes, I could leave Hogwarts entirely." 

He got up, restless, and moved to look out the window again. Harry slid to sit up and moved to the edge of the bed again as he watched the blonde boy. Then he got up and went to join him at the window, standing slightly behind him to look over his shoulder and down into the gardens.

"Spread your wings and just take off. I know that feeling." Harry said quietly.

Draco turned his head a bit, realizing then just how close Harry was to him. How every time they met here, their desire for personal space and reflex reaction to stay away from each other lessened more and more. "You know the feeling?"

"Sure." Harry said, lightly touching his fingers to the back of Draco's hip. "Everything, every part of my life, is just lining me up to fight Voldemort once and for all. Every year the fight has just gotten bigger and bigger. I've been called everything from "The Boy Who Lived" to "The Boy Who Lies" to a hero, to an attention seeker to..." He gestured towards Draco's mirror where 'The Chosen One?' flashed at him. "I can't even start to count the number of times I've wanted to just grab my broom and fly away."

"Where would you go?" Draco asked, turning a bit so he was facing Harry. A mere inch or two separated them. Aside from Harry tackling him in the bathroom, he'd never been this physically close to him. 

"That was always the sticking point. There's nowhere I really could go. Everyone would look for me, Voldemort would look for me. Running away would actually make things worse, so I'm stuck here."

Harry sighed out a long low breath as Draco moved his hand out between those slender inches and touched the other boy's side. "We're both stuck." 

"Looks like it." Harry said, his eyes turned down, looking at Draco's pale fingers against him, his own hand sliding more firmly onto the back of his hip. "But you should talk to Snape. We need more information."

"We?" Draco asked, tilting his head a bit, his eyes turning down for a moment, then back up to Harry's face. "You really mean it, don't you."

"Mean what?" Harry asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

"When you say 'we'. When you say we'll find a way out of this. You actually mean you're going to help me"

Harry nodded just slightly, his thumb brushing back and forth against Draco's lower back. "Yeah of course I do."

"With everything else going on, you're investing your time with me."

"Draco.." Harry tilted his head a bit as he looked at the other boy silently for a few moments. "The thing is that... So many people are sacrificing themselves for me. So that I can face off against Voldemort. I didn't ask for this life, I didn't sign up of volunteer for it. But the heart of the thing is that if I had just died when Voldemort cursed me, none of this would be happening right now."

"If you'd died who knows what He would have done to our world." Draco said frowning at Harry, his fingers curling in the fabric against the other boy's side, giving it a slight tug. 

"I know. But you're here, tasked with killing Dumbledore, because I lived. Which means that to me, you're in danger because of me. And I need to help you."

Draco looked down, frowning a bit. He could sort of see Harry's reasoning but at the same time, it was pretty flawed. But everything was pretty flawed right now. Everything in the world was fractured, everyone was reacting and acting based on everything from the strongest convictions to the most flawed judgement. He, himself, had accidentally cursed Katie Bell and almost killed Ron Weasley because he was just trying to do what he felt he needed to. Poor judgement, not thinking ahead, just reaction. 

He couldn't fault Harry for thinking the way he did, even if it wasn't right at all.

"You're helping me." Draco said eventually, looking up again to meet Harry's eyes. "You keep coming here, you're talking to me. Giving me ideas and reasons for them. And reasons to keep trying. I'm going to keep trying."

"Good." Harry said, sliding his hand up to the centre of Draco's back, feeling the warmth of the smaller boy through his shirt. 

They stood there in silence for a couple of minutes, the room and the safety it provided always hard to give up.

"We should go." Draco said, releasing the hold he had on Harry's shirt, looking out the window once more before he stepped away from the other boy. 

"I'll come back whenever you want." Harry said, rubbing a hand on the back of his own neck, feeling slightly and weirdly awkward. "After you talk to Snape or before if you want. Whenever..."

Draco smiled at him tightly, already starting to put together his mind so he could resume being his 'normal' self outside the door of this refuge. 

Harry left first, looking at the map that Draco now knew everything about to make sure it was clear before he slipped out the door. Once he was gone Draco let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Now alone he went over to the mirror where the Daily Prophet clipping was and took it from the mirror. He had forgotten it was there until Harry had made reference to it that day, otherwise he would have removed it the first time they were there. It spoke a little too loudly about something he wasn't ready to say anything about.

He opened a drawer and stuffed it inside, hoping that the Room of Requirement would hide this for him as well.


	3. Bridge ("Unless I Do it Soon" Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is having trouble getting to the Room of Requirement so he and Draco meet outside. Draco has talked to Snape, they need to do some planning, things are getting more complicated. There has to be a way out of this and Harry won't stop until he finds it.
> 
> Re-telling in AU what happens when Harry finds Draco in the bathroom in book six. It wasn't supposed to be a chaptered fic but as I was writing it I realized there was no way to say everything in one part. So we'll see where it takes us!
> 
> \-------
> 
> \--Along with Inktober, it is Fictober! Following a prompt list from Tumblr I'm going to write short fics based around those prompts. A friend doing the same is titling each fic with the prompt so I'm totally copying that. ;)
> 
> \--------

It was so dark. A night with heavy clouds so neither stars nor moon could be seen, let alone share light with the ground. Harry stood on the covered bridge, his hands in his pockets as he waited. 

He hadn't wanted to meet Draco anywhere but the Room of Requirement but Ron and Hermione had been tailing him lately. Asking a lot of questions about where he was going all the time. He had started off with lying and saying it was stuff from his meetings with Dumbledore that he had to take care of. But they only accepted that with no explanation for so long. Mostly because at this point they knew Dumbledore had given Harry permission to tell them about what they discussed.

Only by claiming detention that night and putting on his coat to leave the Castle had he been able to get away. He'd used a school Owl to send a message to Draco that just said 'covered bridge'. He hoped that it had been anonymous enough to anyone who might have seen the note that it wouldn't have made sense.

"It's cold.." 

The low voice made Harry jump, turning to see Draco standing just behind him.

"Merlin... You need heavier shoes, I didn't even hear you walking."

"Sorry." Draco smiled faintly, moving to stand next to Harry, a scarf wound around his neck and his own hands in his pockets. "Why are we meeting here?"

"I'm having trouble shaking Ron and Hermione lately."

"The problem with close friends. Their best intentions are often nosey." Draco smiled a little more, nudging Harry lightly with his elbow.

Harry just chuckled, turning around to lean his back against the wall so he was facing the other boy. "So the location was my idea but you wanted to meet tonight. Something up?"

"I talked to Snape." Draco said, with a nod, looking down. "I told him everything."

"Everything?" Harry stood up straight, his brow furrowing a bit.

"Not about..." Draco took one hand out of his pocket, gesturing between him and Harry. "This. I didn't tell him we were talking and meeting. I mean I told him about what.. He.. wants me to do. He already knew, he knew even before my mom went to see him. He says he'll help."

"Did he say how he'll help?" Harry had to work to keep his voice level and neutral. Everything in him screamed at the idea of trusting Snape, but he knew that Draco's dealings with him were far different than his own. That Draco, for example, would probably be just as extremely opposed to the idea of asking Mr and Mrs Weasley for help in some matter, where Harry wouldn't think twice about it. 

"No. He just said to leave it with him. He'd take care of it."

"Do you believe him?" Harry stepped closer to Draco, bending down so he could look up into the blonde boy's downturned face. "You can look at me, you know."

"Sorry." Draco raised his head, pushing a hand through his hair. "I believe him. I actually do... I just wish he'd tell me how he was going to handle it. I asked and he told me not to worry about it. Which just..."

Harry smiled a little as Draco trailed off, reaching other to squeeze a hand against the side of his arm. "Which made you worry more? Adults have a way of doing that..."

"No kidding." Draco said with a short chuckle. "Telling me I have nothing to worry about or not to worry generally means there is definitely something to worry about, they just don't want to say what it is."

"Mm." Harry made a noise of agreement, nodding a couple of times and then sighing deeply. He rubbed his hand against Draco's arm a couple of times then let it fall away. "So what do we do now?"

"What exactly are our options?" Draco asked, stepping a little closer to the other boy as Harry's hand drifted away from his arm.

"Now there's a question." Harry laughed, shaking his head. "Well... We could just do nothing and see what happens with Snape. That's if you trust him utterly and completely to take care of things the right way so you and your family are safe..."

"Next option?" Draco said almost immediately, arching one eyebrow as he looked at Harry and smiling when the dark haired boy laughed.

"We do everything we can to find out just what it is Snape is going to do to take care of this. But also try and come up with a back up plan." 

Harry looked at Draco, really looked at him for a few moments, then spoke a little more softly.

"I also think we need to try and find a way to secretly talk with your mother."

"My mother? Why?" Draco's tone was immediately defensive, his hackles raised in obvious protection of his mother.

Something that Harry found admirable. Another piece of Draco that made him so desperately want to help him.

"I don't want her to get involved, I want her to know what's going on here. That you've talked to Snape, what he's said to you. If he won't tell you his plans he might tell her. And keeping her in the loop of what's happening will make it easier to try and get her out and into hiding if it comes to that."

"Into hiding?" Draco looked over at Harry with fear written in his eyes, his lower lip tucked in between his teeth.

"It could come to that, Draco. You can't do the task Voldemort set for you, you know you can't."

Draco's head hung forward again and Harry reached over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"And I'm glad you can't. I think most of the people in the whole world would be glad you couldn't do this. But because you can't, Snape is supposedly taking care of it. But right now we don't know what he's going to do. And we don't know what Voldemort will think when Snape does whatever it is he's going to do. Which means that getting your mother, and you, into hiding at some point might be a very real thing."

Draco was silent. So silent that after about a minute Harry moved his hand to the other boy's cheek and physically lifted his head. His heart gave a great thump when he saw tears on Draco's cheeks again. Something he'd seen many times at this point, but not something that ever got easier.

"Hey," he said, stepping closer to the other boy, curving his palm onto Draco's cheek, brushing his thumb through one of the trails of tears. "It's going to be okay."

"Is it?" Draco asked, bitterness stinging the two words. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because if I don't believe that things are going to be okay, I won't be able to find a reason to keep trying and keep fighting. And I'm fighting, remember? This is my fight, too."

Draco sighed and Harry could have sworn the air came from the soles of his feet it was so deep. He just looked at the other boy, everything in him aching with sympathy and emotion for his situation. And for him, personally. Harry was, it had to be said, finding it harder and harder not to feel personally attached to Draco. Through all of this, through his unhappiness, through his desperation, through his fear and his emotion, he'd gotten to see the real Draco under his ice and armour.

And he liked him. A lot.

"What do we do first?" Draco eventually asked, his voice quiet but steady. Harry had given him enough time to settle himself again.

"I think first you give Snape a chance to tell you what he's doing, and we start trying to figure out how to secretly communicate with your mother."

"That's going to be really tricky. Finding a way to communicate with my mother." Draco said, but his eyes narrowed a bit as he obviously started thinking.

"I know. That's why I think we should start on that now. We don't know if we'll need to talk to her, but if we do, we want to have a plan in place beforehand so we aren't in a rush if and when the time comes." Harry brushed his thumb once more against Draco's cheek then lowered his hand. Immediately he found he missed the warm softness of the other boy's skin.

"That's good thinking." Draco nodded, slightly absently, but it was clearly because he was pondering, not because he wasn't interested. "What do we do to meet now? If Weasley and Granger are on your tail."

"Now that's a tough one." Harry said, pleased when Draco laughed at him thinking THAT was the big problem here. "Maybe we start trying to plan to meet as far in advance as possible. Right now we just get in touch when we want to meet the day of. I know sometimes we're not going to be able to plan ahead but... When we can, maybe."

Harry didn't say what he was really thinking, he had an idea and a possible plan for that but it was going to be a stretch. He wasn't sure it would work and he didn't want to tell Draco and then have it fall through. Realistically... There was a good chance of that.

"Can we meet day after tomorrow?" Draco asked Harry, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Harry nodded, patting a hand against Draco's arm. "That's good. You feeling okay?"

"I'm composed. That's as okay as I'm going to get." Draco nodded his head once, then looked over his shoulder back the way he came. "I'll go first, if that's alright."

"Sure." Harry agreed, smiling a bit as Draco turned and headed across the bridge and back towards the castle.

He waited until he was sure the other boy was well gone before he took in a deep breath, held it for a moment then let it out in a rush.

His next steps in this were going to be the hardest, and they weren't something he was going to ask Draco for help with. He was going to have to swallow his pride, stamp out his suspicion, and try his best to win over someone who absolutely loathed him.


	4. Swing ("Unless I Do it Soon..." Chapter 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Harry finally corners Draco in the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle, he expects to demand answers to his questions. But when he finds Draco in tears and absolute despair, all he can think of is getting him somewhere safe to find out what the hell is going on...
> 
> Chapter 4 Summary- Harry has to get some help from a most unlikely and unsavoury (to him) source. Nothing but the desperate need of the situation and of Draco himself would give him the drive needed to do this...
> 
> Re-telling in AU what happens when Harry finds Draco in the bathroom in book six. It wasn't supposed to be a chaptered fic but as I was writing it I realized there was no way to say everything in one part. So we'll see where it takes us!
> 
> \-------
> 
> \--Along with Inktober, it is Fictober! Following a prompt list from Tumblr I'm going to write short fics based around those prompts. A friend doing the same is titling each fic with the prompt so I'm totally copying that. ;)
> 
> \--------

Harry stopped in front of the door, giving his head a shake and squaring his shoulders.

He'd spent the past fifteen minutes walking back and forth in this hallway, trying to convince himself to stop and knock. 

But it wasn't as simple as that. Snape was on the other side of that door.

Eventually he knew it was either do it, or put it off for the night. And that second option wasn't one he would take. He couldn't just put things off, Draco didn't have the luxury of time to pamper Harry's vanity and pride.

With a short breath to steady himself, he raised his hand and knocked, a small part of him honestly hoping it would go unanswered. But presently he heard the slide of a bolt and then the door swung inwards, the black cloaked figure of Snape revealed on the other side.

"Potter." Snape said, with every bit of his usual sneer and no curiosity. He said Harry's name as a statement, not a question. 

"Professor Snape... I need to speak with you." Harry said, working to keep the grudging and hateful tone out of his voice.

"I have no desire to speak with you. If this is about your grade plummeting from 'Exceeds Expectations' to 'Poor', you'll need to talk to your former Defence Against the Dark Arts professors as they clearly were grading you incorrectly."

"It isn't about that, it's about Draco." Harry managed to keep one hand loose at his side, though the other balled into a fist in anger.

"What nefarious deed is Draco supposedly up to now?" Snape asked in a lazy tone and a slight smirk, making it clear that he was quite aware of Harry's probing and demands that Draco be investigated before he found him in Myrtle's bathroom.

"Murdering Dumbledore." Harry said casually, enjoying the look of almost terror that immediately crossed Snape's face. "Voldemort's orders, right? Otherwise Draco and his family are as good as dead?"

Harry barely had time for another breath before Snape's hand closed in his robes and he hauled him inside, pushing him against the wall as he slammed the door shut.

"How do you know?" Snape hissed at him, leaning close to Harry's face, his intensity etched in every line of his face.

"Draco told me." Harry said simply, turning his head slightly away from Snape. 

"Lies." Snape practically spit the word at Harry, leaning against him harder.

"Draco told me everything. He told me about what Voldemort wants him to do. He told me you wanted to help him. He told me you made an Unbreakable Vow to his mother and it was because we talked about it that he came to you and asked for help. He also told me that you spent the summer feeding Voldemort wrong information about me and Dumbledore. Let me off the wall, I'm not actually here to cause trouble."

Snape eyed him warily for a long few moments, sizing him up, clearly processing what Harry said. Eventually it seemed he couldn't argue with the information Harry had and he released the hold he had on his robes, stepping back a couple of paces as though a little afraid of this new player in whatever was happening.

"Why would Draco confide in you?" He asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Because I happened across him at a vulnerable moment. And that was all it took for me to realize that whatever he was up to this year, it wasn't at all what I originally thought. He clearly didn't have a choice. We've been meeting since then. I'm trying to help him."

Snape grit his teeth, his lips working slightly as though he was holding back biting remarks. When he did speak, it was a carefully neutral measure. "You're helping Draco Malfoy."

"Yes." Harry said, having to work just as hard to swallow his own animosity. "I know it seems completely unlikely, but Draco's not exactly enjoying the task he was put up to. He doesn't WANT to follow through with it and never did. He's doing it because he doesn't have a choice, and I'm not exactly unfamiliar with that side of things. I don't care where Draco's allegiances were before this, I know where he stands now."

"Anything I have to say about this I've said to Draco. You and I have no need to talk to each other."

It took every ounce of willpower Harry had not to take a swing at Snape. How could he and Draco trust him to help, to REALLY help when he was so petty and dismissive?

"I'm not here because of what you and Draco already talked about. Trust me, I wouldn't be here unless I had damn good reason."

Just one swing. Just one hit. Merlin it would feel good.

"Then what, pray tell, do you want from me?"

"We might need a way to communicate with Draco's mother." Harry said, continuing to work extremely hard to keep his temper in check. "We don't know how things are going to play out. He'll want to be able to talk to her and rather than wait until it's necessary, we're looking at how to do it now."

"There will be no need. I am taking care of the situation." Snape said smoothly.

"So you say. But you haven't exactly given Draco any details about how you're going to handle it. Don't stand against him having a way of communicating with his _mother_ at a time like this. You want to help him with this task Voldemort set him, but you don't tell him how you will, fine. Maybe you have your reasons for that." It almost physically pained Harry to say that last bit but he soldiered on. "At least help him openly with this."

"It isn't a small task, Voldemort has made Malfoy Manor the centre of his meetings."

"I never said it was a small task, I said it was one we needed help with. I find it strange that you would make an Unbreakable Vow to help Draco kill Dumbledore if he couldn't do it himself, but you seem to balk at the idea of a clear line of communication."

"Shut. Up. Potter." Snape sneered at the dark haired boy, his eyes blazing. "Chosen One or not, you have NO idea what you're actually dealing with here."

"Then enlighten me, _Professor_. Because I'm starting to think I should take the information about you being at Death Eater meetings all summer and make it more public. I'm sure The Order would find it especially interesting."

Snape's ears actually turned red, his anger seeming to simmer near boiling, but he (even by Harry's standards) did a heroic job of keeping it in check. He cleared his throat after a few moments, tugging his vest over his chest to smooth it down.

"Alright, Potter. You've made your views quite clear. Believe it or not, I do want to help Draco and if I am willing to help him with his task from Voldemort then I am willing to help find a means of communication with his mother."

"There's one more thing." Harry said, taking a great amount of happiness in the look of pure loathing on Snape's face as the older man rounded on him to glare into his face.

"What." 

"I'm having trouble getting away to meet with Draco without my friends prying about it. I need to use you as an excuse whenever we want to meet. I need to say I have detention with you and if anyone ever asks you, I need you to say it's true."

Snape raised both eyebrows, a slightly sickly smile curving onto his thin lips.

"Now that, Potter, is one thing I won't mind reinforcing."


	5. Soft ("Unless I Do it Soon..." Chapter 5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary - Now that Harry has managed to find an excuse to disappear all the time, he and Draco meet again in the Room of Requirement to try and hammer out a plan to get communication to Narcissa. A plan to keep her safe, and hopefully Draco as well....
> 
> Story Summary - When Harry finally corners Draco in the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle, he expects to demand answers to his questions. But when he finds Draco in tears and absolute despair, all he can think of is getting him somewhere safe to find out what the hell is going on...
> 
> Re-telling in AU what happens when Harry finds Draco in the bathroom in book six. It wasn't supposed to be a chaptered fic but as I was writing it I realized there was no way to say everything in one part. So we'll see where it takes us!
> 
> \-------
> 
> \--Along with Inktober, it is Fictober! Following a prompt list from Tumblr I'm going to write short fics based around those prompts. A friend doing the same is titling each fic with the prompt so I'm totally copying that. ;)
> 
> \--------

"You did, WHAT?" 

Draco was laughing as he spoke, which in turn made Harry laugh as well. He shook his head at the blonde boy, running a hand through his own hair.

"I had to think of something." He said, grinning at Draco. "I figured that would actually be best."

"You went to Snape to ask him to be your cover for when we want to meet. YOU went to SNAPE for a favour."

"I think it's more impressive that he said yes." Harry grinned, shifting where he was sitting cross legged on Draco's bed in the Room of Requirement version of his bedroom. Draco was sitting facing him as well.

"Merlin. Never would have expected it." Draco shook his head, looking down and smiling. 

"Well... It's done now. And the chances of anyone ever doubting that I've been given excessive detentions from Snape is pretty slim. But if they do, he'll happily say it's true. Has he said anything to you?"

Draco raised one shoulder in a slight shrug, scratching his cheek. "He's asked me a few questions. He also said that he'd been planning on how to help me since he made the Unbreakable Vow. That he had a plan in place."

"But he wouldn't tell you what it was, I'm guessing." Harry frowned when Draco shook his head. "So we really are just supposed to trust him."

"I'm starting to think that's all anyone can ever do." Draco said quietly, looking at his hands in his lap. "Trusting unlikely sources has actually done me a fair bit of good in this mess. If I hadn't, I wouldn't be sitting here with you."

Harry stayed quiet for a few moments, then smiled a bit, reaching over to lightly touch the ends of Draco's hair. "You make a good point."

They both stayed quiet for a few moments then, Draco eventually raised his head enough to see Harry's eyes and smiled at him a bit. "I had a thought about communicating with my mom."

"Yeah?" Harry shifted closer so their folded knees touched as they sat facing each other. "I hadn't come up with anything aside from using Snape as a go-between and I don't think that's as clear cut as we want it to be."

Draco shook his head, making a face. "He's already too tangled up in this with no proof of what he's going to do to help. This has to be separate."

Harry nodded, watching Draco seriously as he absently traced the seam-line of Draco's uniform over the inside of his knee. "No, you're right. Absolutely right."

"It might be as simple as a new owl to start with. A new owl and a late night delivery right to her room while she's asleep. He, and no one, ever went into my parents bedroom. And while I wouldn't trust that long term, it would be enough to start things."

"I'm following you but also not if this isn't a long term plan." Harry said with a frown, then relaxed a bit when he saw Draco hesitate, reaching forward a little more to smooth his hand up the other boy's leg gently. "If it's a good plan and you'd rather I don't know, that's fine. This about you being able to talk to your mom when you need to. I don't absolutely have to be involved."

"No, I want to tell you." Draco said, looking up to the dark haired boy. "I'm just not supposed to know about this either. I guess that doesn't really matter now... My father had a cottage. Well, he called it a cottage but it was actually a safe house. He and my mother don't know that I found out about it. But no one else knows, it was supposed to just be for us if we needed it. He went there a lot last year, things started getting... bad."

Harry nodded, staying quiet and raising his hand to Draco's cheek, brushing his fingers against the other boy's skin just once. "I can imagine. So if I guess correctly, you want your mom to get the first message and you tell her to go to the safe house for more?"

"I kind of want to tell her to just go to the safe house and stay there." Draco said, leaning his head a bit towards Harry's hand. "I just... Have a feeling that this isn't going to go well. I want her out as soon as possible. If no one knows where she is then she's safe."

"And what about you?" Harry asked, leaning forward a little bit more. "What about your safety?"

"He can't come to the school. None of his Death Eaters can either. I'm safe here until the end of the year. Maybe I'll leave before school finishes, go to the safe house with her. We can stay there..."

Harry thought it out slowly, then started to nod just as slowly. It wasn't exactly what they'd been aiming for, but it was, actually, a very good idea. If Draco's mother went missing, it would generally be thought Draco would be safer at Hogwarts, not at home, in case he was in danger as well. None of the Death Eaters could come and get him here, not without every professor knowing. Voldemort definitely wouldn't come here for him. And no one would likely suspect Draco of having anything to do with his mother disappearing. Given that his father was in Azkaban, it would be pretty much assumed that it had something to do with Voldemort so...

"It's perfect, actually." Harry said, smiling at Draco and nodding a little more. "Really... We'll need to get you an owl, and we'll have to find a way to get you out of Hogwarts when it's time. Do you think your mother will listen to just one message from you? And maybe we should instruct the owl to deliver the message then go to wherever the safe house is and stay there. Then she can send a message to you when she arrives."

Draco couldn't help but smile, catching one of Harry's hands with both his own. "Good idea. Yeah.. then I won't wonder if she's there or not. I think that so long as I'm blunt she'll listen... Can we do something so the message burns or disintegrates after she puts the parchment down?"

"I'm sure we could..." Harry said, frowning and thinking. "I'd have to ask someone but... I can do that."

"Hermione?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrows slightly. "Wouldn't that just cause more questions?"

"I'll find a way to get the information... I'd rather field questions about why I wanted to know then not have the answers." Harry was already thinking he wasn't going to ask Hermione. He was already thinking he needed to go much higher than that for the help they needed at this point.

"Leave getting an Owl with me?" Harry said, squeezing Draco's hands as he looked at him. "We want absolutely no trace of you on this. Nothing that could ever really be traced to you. No one in their right mind would suspect I'd be helping you. So if anything ever happened they might trace it to me, but it won't go past that."

"Thank you." Draco said, swallowing hard as he squeezed Harry's hand tight. "I mean really, Harry... I've never done anything to deserve this help from you."

"You never did anything to deserve having this task forced on you." 

Harry spoke with force. He meant it. Draco had been a pain in the ass. An egotistical asshole. A total prejudiced jerk. But he didn't deserve the threat on his life and his family if he didn't _murder_ someone. Nothing Draco had ever done deserved that. And the longer Harry spent with him, the more he understood that the sneering pride Draco displayed was more like armour over a much more vulnerable and soft inner self.

"I'll get an owl as quickly as I can." Harry said with a nod. "And I'll find out how to safeguard the letter to your mother."

Draco left first again a few minutes later, making sure the halls were clear before slipping out of the room. Harry sighed a looooong deep breath as he processed everything they had just talked about and looked around the room.

His eyes rested on the mirror for a few moments, thinking something was out of place before he realized the article about himself, the Daily Prophet's "Chosen One?", wasn't there anymore. He supposed the Room might not get everything exactly right every time. But he thought it more likely that the 'owner' of the room had removed it when he noticed it was there.

He had a lot of questions to ask and a HUGE task to undertake, but he thought maybe there might be time to also tease Draco about that. Just a little...


	6. Trust ("Unless I do it Soon" Chapter 6)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary- Harry is on a mission now to find out all he can about sending a message to Narcissa Malfoy and keeping it secret and safeguarded. He led Draco to believe the other boy knew who he would be going to for the help but he might not have been totally honest. He needed to know the advice he was getting was the best, and to him there was only one person that he trusted for that...
> 
> Story Summary-  
When Harry finally corners Draco in the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle, he expects to demand answers to his questions. But when he finds Draco in tears and absolute despair, all he can think of is getting him somewhere safe to find out what the hell is going on...
> 
> Re-telling in AU what happens when Harry finds Draco in the bathroom in book six. It wasn't supposed to be a chaptered fic but as I was writing it I realized there was no way to say everything in one part. So we'll see where it takes us!
> 
> \-------
> 
> Fictober is over! But now I'm embarking on 50,000 words of Fic for all of November for NaNoWriMo!! :D
> 
> \--------

"...And I know that I've spent a good part of this year throwing accusations at Draco and at Snape and at... well anyone I could think of. But this isn't an accusation, not this time. This is the truth and I need help to help him. He's so scared and so lost and I'm worried he'll just give up...."

Harry trailed off then, keeping his eyes on his hands where they were clenched in his lap. When the silence stretched, he raised his head a bit. Then a bit more. Just enough to see the chin of the person he was talking to.

"Sir...?"

"I'm just thinking, Harry." Dumbledore said and Harry saw his chin bob as he nodded. "Just thinking, give me a moment."

Harry relaxed a bit then, letting out a low breath as his lungs burned slightly from holding it. Even when Draco had assumed that Harry was going to go to Hermione for answers and help in getting an owl and figuring out how to safe guard the message to Narcissa, Harry was already thinking he was going straight to Dumbledore with it.

The meetings he'd been having with Dumbledore that year had taught him a lot. Not just about Voldemort and his history and the truth behind what he was up against, but about the older man as well. And just how much Dumbledore actually seemed to know about everything that was going on around him with the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself. Harry honestly figured not all of what he was going to tell him would come as a surprise. And he was right.

"It's funny who can become our ally when we just let our minds relax and be more welcoming." Dumbledore said, then chuckled when he saw Harry's cheeks go red. "I'm not shaming you, Harry. Your accusations were not exactly off point, were they? You knew Draco was up to something and you were right. I had always known you were right, I simply just didn't want you to get involved, things had to play out the right way. I just wanted you to trust that it wasn't your problem to deal with."

"But now it kind of is." Harry said firmly, this time raising his head to meet Dumbledore's eyes over the half moon of his spectacles. "But I don't want to get anyone in trouble, I want to save someone."

"Which is admirable to say the least. And I'm certainly not going to stand in the way of you helping someone, especially when it's clearly so pure intentioned and offers an avenue in this that I had not considered. While I did, of course, know of this plot as soon as it came about, I was not quite as informed about the toll it was taking on Draco himself. And was not told just how bad things were for the Malfoy's in general. Of course, they wouldn't want anyone to know that. Knowing they felt themselves in a bad place would be dangerous for them, even more so than the danger they're already in."

Harry nodded with what Dumbledore said, understanding what he meant. That Narcissa and Draco had to act like they were perfectly comfortable and even pleased at the prospect of winning back their favour with Voldemort because if it was thought they didn't want that, they would no longer be of any use. 

"Tell me again what it is you and Draco have come up with so far?"

Harry explained in more detail rather than in a rush of words as he had started with, wanting to get everything out at once so Dumbledore couldn't stop him. He told him about Draco going to Snape but neither of them knowing what he was planning, (though he left out how annoyed they both were at Snape's secrecy), explained about the safe house cottage and how they wanted to get a message to Narcissa to tell her to go there. That Draco needed an owl that had no ties to him what so ever, a way to destroy the message to Narcissa after it had been sent. And that Draco, potentially, needed to leave Hogwarts a little early in order to avoid being put back into the clutches of the other Death Eaters.

Once he finished, Dumbledore once again sat silently, his fingers knit together and pressed under his lower lip. Looking at him now, rather than at his lap, Harry could tell he just needed to wait, that this silence was Dumbledore going over everything he'd just said.

"I must say," Dumbledore said after a few solid minutes of silence, lowering his hands and smiling at bit at Harry. "Between the two of you, you've actually come up with some very good ideas. They are not fool proof, but nothing we do in this situation is. Nothing we could plan would be without risk, and so the best course of action is simply the one that seems to have the least amount of risk."

Harry nodded, even as his insides squirmed a bit. Logically he knew it was exactly as Dumbledore had said, there was no path that didn't have risk. But part of him had really hoped that Dumbledore would see it as completely perfect and with no chance of failure. Or that he, himself, would offer a plan that had no risk. Pipe dreams, he knew, but there had still been that little bit of hope.

"There are many ways to send a message, but I think the path needing the least amount of magic will mean the least ability to trace anything. An owl to send a message to Draco's mother is without a doubt the best way to go. We shall get an owl, but Draco must not touch it. He also must not touch the parchment we write the message on." 

Dumbledore was speaking carefully and firmly, nodding as he spoke. Harry was not about to disagree at all.

"Draco's words can be on the parchment, have him write the message he wishes to send. I will prepare it accordingly. So long as Draco's eyes and hands never touch either, it cannot be traced to him, no matter who is trying to find where it came from. The parchment itself can be spelled to disintegrate as soon as it leaves Narcissa's hands, or the moment it touches the hands of anyone but her before it is delivered. Should it be seized before she reads it, there will be magic that can reform the words and trace it, this is why Draco shouldn't touch it."

Harry nodded, leaning forward a bit as if worried he would miss something Dumbledore said.

"The owl will first return here to me after it's delivery. I will find out if the message has been sent successfully and without issue, and then it will go to the Malfoy's cottage. When Narcissa replies, the owl will return to me, not to you or Draco."

"Sir, the owl can come to me. It doesn't matter if I'm involved in this, no one would suspect I'd be doing anything to help the Malfoy's." Harry said, shifting a little bit.

"You assume, Harry." Dumbledore said gently, tilting his head in a bit. "And I would assume as well. But should someone find out, should there be one thread that could lead from you to Draco... That could be all it takes to lead them straight to the source. It is best that you have nothing to do with it. If something happens and they trace the communication with Narcissa back to me, well.." Dumbledore smiled, waving his hand a bit. "It would not be nearly cause for alarm the way it would if it was discovered you were helping them. I am the root of many of Voldemort's problems. Adding another will not cause a ripple."

Harry nodded slowly, realizing that Dumbledore was right. Snape knew he was helping Draco right then, and while Snape seemed an ally, as much as it pained him to admit it, that was a 'thread' Dumbledore had been talking about. And even if that was the only one right now, who knew what might happen in the coming weeks?

"But the question is, Harry, do you trust me with this? Because if you don't, I will not be offended and I will not become involved. I trust you, I think your judgement is good and your reasons and motive justified and well placed. So should you just need me as someone to throw ideas at and receive counsel, that is fine."

Harry did think for a moment, he wanted to make sure he made the right decision. It was far easier to make fast choices when it was for himself, but making a decision for someone else who was in danger was much harder. Eventually, he nodded his head, meeting Dumbledore's eyes again.

"I trust you, sir. And I think that we'd be in good hands with you actively helping." Harry smiled as he nodded and was rather pleased at the happy smile Dumbledore gave him in return.

"I am quite honoured." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "Our next steps are fairly simple, I think. I will get an owl, something non-descript but a trustworthy old soul. I will need you to see Draco again and brief him of what we've discussed. I assume that he does not yet know that you planned to speak to me?"

"No sir. I don't think he would have really tried to stop me, but he feels so guilty about anything having to do with you. I think it will be hard for him to hear you're helping him..."

Dumbledore fell silent again and Harry could tell by the look on his face that there was a deep sadness underneath. The same he, himself, felt for Draco being put in such a terrible position.

"I will write a letter." Dumbledore said after a few moments, speaking more quietly. "It will be for Draco and Draco only unless he wishes to share it with you. But I do trust you, Harry, to bring it to him without reading it."

"Of course sir." Harry nodded, something in him brightening a bit. If Dumbledore wanted to give Draco a letter, wanted to talk to him about all of this, it might really help Draco feel more confident in moving forward with things. It might help him realize he wasn't a bad person for what he'd been forced to do.

Dumbledore had already pulled a scroll of parchment towards himself and was writing. Harry watched him without looking at the words and Dumbledore must have known he could trust him as he did nothing to shield them.

The older man wrote quickly and efficiently, as though he had wanted this opportunity and had thought about what he might say if given the chance. In all it took about fifteen minutes for him to finish. He rolled and tied the parchment but did not seal it, passing it to Harry with a smile that spoke of trust and good intentions.

"When you have spoken to Draco, when he has read this and is ready, ask him to write his letter to his mother. I give my solemn word that I will change nothing of what he writes, but please impress upon him that the fewer personal notes and information he gives the better for all involved. And that his letter should be short, the longer it is, the longer the words stay where others may see them. I will have an owl ready and waiting, come back to me as soon as you can."

Harry turned the scroll for Draco over his his hands, then carefully tucked it into the pocket of his jeans, looking back to Dumbledore with a nod. "I will, sir. And thank you."

Harry got up then and made it as far as the door before he hesitated and looked back at Dumbledore.

"What is it, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Sir... This might be really rude to ask but..."

"I think the time has passed for worrying about rudeness. What is it?"

"Are you not afraid? Voldemort is actively trying to kill you, and if Draco doesn't do it he'll send someone else who definitely won't have the aversion to the task Draco does."

"None of us are safe in these times, Harry. Those of us that are threats to Voldemort are less safe, but it doesn't stop us from doing the things that are most important, does it? You, yourself, know the threat on your life, but you haven't for a moment balked at the idea of helping Draco. Why would you think I would be any different?"

Harry smiled a bit, letting out a soft breath as he nodded. "You're right. It's just... easier to accept the threat to yourself. Harder to accept the threat to those you care about."

"And that, Harry, is why I truly believe you will win this war."


	7. Unless I do it Soon (Chapter 7)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Harry finally corners Draco in the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle, he expects to demand answers to his questions. But when he finds Draco in tears and absolute despair, all he can think of is getting him somewhere safe to find out what the hell is going on...
> 
> Re-telling in AU what happens when Harry finds Draco in the bathroom in book six. It wasn't supposed to be a chaptered fic but as I was writing it I realized there was no way to say everything in one part. So we'll see where it takes us!
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------

_Dear Draco,_

_The first thing, before anything else, that I wish for you to know is this-_

_There was always going to be someone given the task of killing me. Always._

_Voldemort knows he could not. But he also knows he needs me out of the way before he proceeds. There was always going to be the person, or persons, told to carry it out for him. None of that is a surprise to me._

_It was, however, a devastating blow to hear that he had set it to you. _

_I should have been surprised, but alas... His cruelty finds new heights every day. So instead of reeling in surprise, I started to make plans._

_There were many things I needed to accomplish before the end of the year, when your time would be up and I would have to be dead. I had to make sure Harry had particular information. I had to know what would come next for Hogwarts. And I had to find someone who would actually kill me instead of you._

_Indeed, I have no intentions of living past the end of this year, Draco. But I also have no intentions of letting you be the one to end my life. You could not live with that. And yet, if I should live, you will not and neither will your mother. Both of you are not deserving of death._

_Should you suddenly feel valiant reading this and feel that your life is not worth mine, I want you to remember these next things-_

_I have lived a very long life. Yours is still in front of you and I have no doubt you will do great things._

_I have never seen you as the cold, dark boy you have presented yourself as. So I know within you is more than that._

_Only someone truly strong, deserving of love and deserving of life would agree to take on the task you did if it meant saving the life of your mother. _

_Because I also know that if it was only your life on the line, and not your mother's as well, you would let me live and let Voldemort kill you. _

_Trust Professor Snape. Trust Harry. And most of all, Draco, trust yourself._

_You are not alone when you have true friends. And you do, dear boy. You do._

_As Ever,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

_PS- Harry does not know what's in this letter. I leave it with you to decide if you wish him to._

Draco had given Harry the letter, thrust it at him as tears poured down his face. 

Harry read it, but he did so while he had Draco wrapped in tight against him. He squeezed the other boy as Draco cried silently but steadily, letting him read the letter three times.

Part of him thought he should be surprised like Dumbledore thought he should have been as well. He thought maybe he should be surprised that Dumbledore was not intending to live past the end of the year. But with it laid out the way it was in the letter he saw how everything that had happened so far that year added up to that. That somewhere inside of himself, the pieces clicked in and he saw it perfectly and sensibly laid out.

Springing him out of the Dursley's early, attracting a new Potions Professor. The extra lessons, the teaching him everything he knew about Voldemort. He was preparing him for the final battle he'd have to face at some point, Harry had always known that. But he was doing it now because he knew he only had this year.

Harry let out a bit of a shuddering sigh, putting the letter on the floor as he wrapped his other arm around Draco, squeezing his own eyes shut and turning his face into Draco's hair.

Draco had been enraged when he'd heard Harry had gone to Dumbledore. Harry had expected that, really. He hadn't thought it would go over easily. And when Harry had given him the letter Draco held it, looking so pale and stricken Harry was worried he might pass out.

He read it, got to the end and looked at Harry. Then down at the letter again, re-reading all or part of it, Harry didn't know which. Then he thrust the parchment at Harry.

"Read it, you can read it.." 

Draco's words came out tight and hard, like he'd had to squeeze them through a tiny space in his chest. Then he started to cry.

Harry moved instinctually to pull Draco into him and when the blonde boy's legs buckled he carefully got them down onto the floor.

Then he read the letter, letting Draco cry and take all of the time he might need to process this.

Harry was used to Dumbledore knowing everything even when it seemed strange that he should. But this was probably the first time Draco had been faced with it personally, and it was such a potent blow to come right NOW.

"He means it..." Harry said softly, ducking his head a bit to speak close to Draco's ear. "Every word of it. I sat right there in front of him while he wrote it. He did it so fast... Like he'd been thinking about what to say to you for ages and he finally had the chance."

He felt Draco shudder, squeezing him tighter. He couldn't help thinking right then, even though it really wasn't the right time, that this was a little strange.

He'd hugged Hermione before. Ron, too, once or twice. But just short sort of hugs that had patting on the back involved. Friendly hugs that you gave to your friends.

He'd never held one of his friends the way he did Draco. His friends didn't melt into him and cling to him like he was the only thing keeping them afloat. He never would have considered hugging Ron or Hermione like this. 

Maybe it was the situation. It could just be the incredibly dire situation, the months of absolute torment Draco had been through. Or maybe Draco himself was just different than Ron and Hermione. Maybe he was more affectionate...

Even as he thought that last bit he knew it wasn't right. Draco was, actually, far less tactile than he was with his friends and that was saying something.

His thoughts broke off there as Draco shifted, leaning his head back enough to see Harry. His eyes were red rimmed, wet and shining. His hair mussed and his brow creased, but he was ever so faintly smiling.

"Hey." Harry said, smiling back at him. "You okay?"

"Yeah.. I.." Draco shook his head a bit, looking away for a moment before back at Harry again. "Honestly I was crying in relief more than anything else. Just..."

Harry nodded when Draco faltered looking for words, tilting his head a bit. "I know. Dumbledore does that. I've gotten used to it..."

"He actually... He intends to die, though."

Harry nodded again, the smile flattening out on his face. "Apparently."

"But he's doing it to protect me and my mother, isn't he?" 

Draco waited until Harry started nodding before just continuing to speak without waiting for an answer. "But if I'm in hiding and my mother is in hiding, he doesn't need to die. If Voldemort can't find us then we don't need the protection of Dumbledore's death."

Harry felt realization hit him as Draco spoke, understanding what the other boy was trying to say. "Oh my god... You might be right..."

"Did he say who he actually managed to talk into being the one?" Draco asked, then sighed when Harry shook his head.

"No but... I would hazard a guess that it's Snape. Snape's been after you all year you said, trying to get you to agree to him helping you. And Snape is the one feeding Voldemort misinformation, right? I bet it's him. And Dumbledore, of course, didn't want you to know. So Snape has just been saying that you don't need to worry, he knows how to help."

"So we go to Snape." Draco said, pulling one hand back from around Harry, wiping off his cheeks. "I don't think we should go to Dumbledore, I think we should go to Snape."

"Why?" Harry couldn't keep the small note of hatred from his voice, he had no desire to do anything or communicate with Snape again. Having to go to him once was more than enough.

"Because Snape will care about finding a way to stop this. Snape won't actually WANT to kill Dumbledore, if there's a way out then..." Draco raised his eyebrows, looking at Harry hopefully.

"He'd want to know why you're so sure you and your mother will be safe. You'd have to tell him about the safe house. You'd have to tell him about sending her an owl. And we're not supposed to let there be ANY threads of links back to you."

Draco's face fell and Harry felt like an asshole for making it happen when he had looked so happy and so hopeful for a few moments. 

"I'm sorry... It does make sense, you aren't wrong. Snape would want to find a way out. As much as I don't like him, I know he does care about Dumbledore. But I'm more concerned about your safety."

"Even compared to keeping Dumbledore alive?"

Draco spoke quietly and the words seemed to hang there, floating like visible things between them. Harry, for a few moments, felt like they'd sucked the air right out of his lungs. So stark was the immediate realization that he did, actually, care more about keeping Draco safe than keeping Dumbledore alive.

And that was more than a little uncomfortable. Weren't his priorities warped then? Shouldn't he want to care more about keeping Dumbledore alive than helping Draco? How messed up had things gotten....

But when he looked at Draco, looked at his face. The purple shadows painted deeper than ever under his eyes. The paleness of his skin and the depths of his eyes that had nothing but anguish in them, he knew it was true and he knew why it was true.

"Even compared to keeping Dumbledore alive." He said quietly, looking back to Draco's face seriously and steadily. "We might be able to do both, and we can explore that. I want to follow it because you're right. But first and foremost I want to take care of what we started out to do. You need to write a letter to your mother. It needs to get to her and you need to know that she's safe. Then we'll tackle the next step."

Draco stayed quiet for a few moments, rather taken aback by Harry's answer. He clearly had thought that by phrasing it the way he had, that Harry would realize what he was saying and champion ahead towards saving Dumbledore. Not tell Draco that he was, in fact, what mattered most.

"Harry, I..."

Harry moved his hand up, covering Draco's mouth with his palm. He smiled at him after a couple of moments of silence passed, then spoke with his hand still over his mouth.

"You need to write to your mother. First step... Write to your mother, I'll bring it to Dumbledore tomorrow. We'll get it sent, we'll get her safe."

"Then what?"

Draco had pushed Harry's hand off his mouth to speak.  
"Then we get plans in place to keep you safe. And once we know that without a shadow of a doubt, you're covered. Then we start trying to save Dumbledore, too."

"And... then? After that?" 

"And then... I suppose I try and muddle my way through to fight Voldemort... Somehow..."

Harry smiled at Draco, and Draco smiled back at Harry.

But this time it wasn't Harry thinking of an alternate plan. It wasn't Harry's brain ticking through other options.

This time Draco knew what he wanted and needed to do next. 

Because maybe Harry's first priority was making sure Draco was safe.

But Draco just realized that once his mother was taken care of, there was nothing that would stop him ensuring that Harry won this war.


End file.
